A Fire Team
by NaughtyZoroBoy
Summary: Nick is a young Trainer going across the Alola region who is heavily into Fire-type Pokémon. His team isn't the strongest, however, and most of the other Trainers are willing to win no matter what, turning his non-official battles into extremely unfair ones. He has something those don't have, though: the affection of (some of) his Pokémon. Rated M for yaoi and adult themes.
1. A Jealous Canine

**Warning: Contains yaoi and adult themes! **

* * *

Arcanine didn't quite understand what happened to him, but it was clear it had nothing to do with his instincts he had been told to control a million times. How could that be if it… _felt like a human would feel _when jealous? Maybe because he felt it towards his battle partner, Incineroar, another Nick's Pokémon.

Their Trainer was heavily into fire Pokémon. Not only almost his whole team was Fire-type, but he also collected pictures of those Pokémon he managed to make with his old miniature camera he carried around everywhere, even into the most dangerous places. No matter if it was pure or half Fire-type, Nick took a picture of them as soon as he could. Not only that, the young boy loved talking about them and even socializing with them. At least as far the big fire dog could describe: petting and playing with them, just as he normally did with Arcanine himself and his other 3 Pokémon.

The team wasn't all that strong. Nothing that could win the Pokémon League even by using all the stimulant inventory of one entire shop. In fact, Nick was heavily against them, especially after Incineroar got hospitalized because of _a shot of that crap. _He won the battle against a jerk after all, but it wasn't worth risking the big red feline's life. Just after that incident, they became a lot closer together, and it was short until the dog started to feel that jealousy.

The Trainer was well aware of the fact that, if he didn't succeed in the League, which was most likely, he would be eventually forced to choose one of his Pokémon and release the rest, if not every single one. And if his parents didn't force him first, he would be soon pressured by everyone to take that step, to become _mature, _as he wouldn't have earned the right to keep being _a kid. _Arcanine clearly thought he would be the chosen one by Nick to stay with him, but as Incineroar started getting more attention… he began thinking that maybe his possibilities weren't so wide after all.

Nick actually tried his best to prevent being biased, or simply showing any favoritism towards his Pokémon, in order to avoid major conflicts between them and make them think as a whole team, especially when training, even if the chances they'd fight side by side were pretty slim. However, it was clear he couldn't help showing a little too much affection to, particularly, Arcanine, sleeping with him in not so few nights as an example of that. In addition, he dedicated lots of tender smiles to Incineroar, and even gave loving hugs to that big feline. If he actually was a human girl, every one would be saying they were a couple by that point.

Volcarona and Torkoal didn't really mind about any of that, since both had accepted before hand they weren't staying after Nick's adventure was over. Plus they didn't even like him all that much: they got along well, but nothing else. However, the biped feline receiving attention bugged the big dog so badly, to the point he eventually started trying to get in the way whenever the boy showed too much affection to Incineroar for him. In short, usually.

Arcanine also wanted to stay as close to his Trainer as much as he could. Since he couldn't stay outside his Poké Ball too often, he could never get tired of looking at his muscular body, hearing his kinda deep, yet energy-filled voice, nor getting his gentle rubs on his back. He also was as sweet as sugar with every one, even if they didn't pay it back, which was usual with humans. Not only he was considered a freak for liking (fire) Pokémon a bit too much, but he was often teased by Trainers that battled him, most of whom drugged their Pokémon with no remorse.  
"Oh, c'mon" one of them, a bratty girl, was particularly harsh. "How do you want to be a good Trainer if a single shot is too much for you to handle?".  
"That crap's dangerous as hell. One of my friends could have died because of one of those" the boy replied without doubting.  
The dog, almost going to faint after a rough, unfair battle, tended to use his remaining energies for defending his Trainer.  
"Leave my Trainer alone, bitch!" He barked, his insult only being understood by her Pokémon, who started to feel the stimulant's effect fading away.

* * *

Once the fire canine had got in between the feline and Nick when getting affective a couple of times, the human started to get a bit annoyed and worried about him. While brushing the feral Pokémon in order to calm him, just after having scolded him for being so insistent, he mumbled:  
"What's wrong with you, Arcanine? I mean, I know you like attention, but I can't be looking at you all the time".  
"Hey" Incineroar, with a tender smile, tried to get closer to his teammate. "Are you o…?".  
"Leave me alone, and don't stay so close to Nick!" Arcanine barked furiously.  
"Hey, NO!" Nick shouted. "Behave! He's your teammate, don't be mean to him".  
The big red feline would eventually walk away with a sad face, not understanding why the dog didn't like him. Sometimes, he'd feel kinda bad, since Incineroar, even if he did show the attitude humans expected due to that stupid marketing, was actually another tender soul, who worried both about his Trainer and his partners even more than others about the rest. But still, he kept feeling jealous as hell. His place with the boy was too important for him.

One night, after Nick had fallen asleep, his mind filled with concerns towards those two and sadness, Incineroar decided to go ahead and try to find out what was with Arcanine. The fire dog seemed to feel… kinda _needy, _as he had a sort of lewd smile on his face and a nervous motion.  
"Arcanine" the tall feline called his teammate. "Can we talk?".  
"Huh?". The canine's eyes took a while to find the biped tiger's, forgetting about his _needs. _"What?".  
"I'm just wondering… if there's something wrong… You see, Nick is really worried about you. Neither him or I can understand why you… Your strange behaviour, and not towards me, but every one. As…" Incineroar gulped before continuing. "As if we seemed hostile to him in your eyes".  
"T-thought you were fine showing off. You can do that as well with all Trainers".

Once the canine said that, the feline sighed kinda sadly.  
"You're jealous, aren't you?" He asked.  
Arcanine didn't dare answer.  
"You know this attitude of yours will make us a worse team…".  
"Do you really have any hopes in this to never end?!".  
That left the biped Pokémon speechless, as he actually knew what his partner meant.  
"Listen, if we're doing this…" He tried to continue.  
"We're screwed as a team, you know it really well! Once we get humiliated in the League, it's over! And I'm staying with him, no matter what!".

Incineroar looked down with a frown, while the dog looked away, still jealous at his teammate. Even if he hurt him, Arcanine was only focusing on being the chosen one by Nick. But he was probably doing it way too hard for the feline, as his apparent sadness and irritation showed.  
"Well, don't you see how bad Nick's feeling because of you?! He does want to try, and if you were a bit less selfish, you'd care a bit more about him and not so much about yourself!".  
It was then when the dog found out that his jealousy might actually be hurting his beloved Trainer as well. Maybe, upon accepting so quickly they were a lost cause in front of the other Trainers, he hadn't even considered trying to cooperate with the other Pokémon, just to see if…  
"But also… _If _we finally get released, we won't have to obey him anymore. And I won't obey if he tells me to go away after I get released".  
"Huh?" The dog tilted his head, not getting what _obeying after being released _exactly meant.  
"I mean… If I was released and Nick told me _go back to the wild… _I'd refuse to. First, because I perfectly could. I-I'd no longer be his Pokémon. Second, because I care for him, and I really wanna look after him, make him happy, even if it means I won't be able to look at his face again. Nick deserves it more than anyone".

The fire canine looked down with a sad face, blushing as he was told how important the Trainer he wanted to get attention from was to that big biped Pokémon. Maybe, after all, he didn't actually deserve being beside him for the rest of his life.  
"I don't care about who he chooses, I'll be staying around anyway" Incineroar finished, sighing, then he smiled tenderly. "In fact, I'm pretty sure Nick will choose you, so you have no reason for being jealous. As long as he chooses what his heart tells him, I'll be fine".  
Arcanine looked at his partner, who was sitting next to himself, as he tried to process everything he had just been told. After recalling the looks the feline gave Nick, he soon started to feel sadder, feeling dumb for not having realized that friendship those two had.

"Tell me one more thing: do you remember how you felt when Nick drugged you?".  
"Er…" Incineroar did take a while to think what to say. "Extremely confused, to sum it up. The only thing I could think was _destroy that Pokémon. _It was… kind of a need, something like _if I don't do it, I'm dead_, and I didn't know why. Tough as hell. And I felt comforted once I woke up, now feeling normally, but as if I had gone through the entire world in one night, and I saw Nick, holding my hand, who had been waiting for so long for me to open my eyes… He made a terrible mistake, but then I understood that, if he actually was _a good Trainer_, he wouldn't have started crying on my shoulder, begging for me to forgive him, aware of his mistake. He… Nick wouldn't be a good person. That's why I want him to be happy".

"Well, after all of this…" Arcanine smiled sadly. "The only thing I can say is: I'm sorry, much more than you might actually think".  
Suddenly, the dog felt he was being hugged by the big feline. Just as Nick would do, making him whine in bliss.  
"As long as you're not mad at me, I'll be fine. And our Trainer as well" Incineroar mumbled on the feral Pokémon's ear. Then his tone changed to… something strange. "But if you wanna say sorry so bad…". He felt… _kissed _on his mouth, in a more sloppy way than his Trainer would do, not making it less pleasing, though. "I guess we can play a bit".  
"W-w-w-w-w-what?!". The big canine was totally puzzled by his teammate's move. "What did you… just do?".  
"Well, this is how human's express love, isn't it?".  
"M-maybe" the dog wasn't thinking before talking in that moment "I could t-try it…" The feline's taste got deeper into his mouth "…with Nick".  
"Well, I don't think he's into Pokémon. That's taboo for humans, it seems. However, if you do need satisfaction… Just tell me, we could grind rods or even better" Incineroar winked with a grin.  
"Do you have a crush for me or something?" Arcanine asked, still puzzled.  
"Yep" the biped Pokémon nodded. "I've always liked big, cute guys like you. Well, cute in general, but the bigger, the better".  
"And what about Nick?".  
"I don't like him in that way. He's way too important for me to have erotic thoughts about him. Still, I have to admit some humans can kinda turn me on".

The fire dog suddenly felt his body was reacting to his teammate's proposal, as he felt his lipstick wanting to come out. Then he started to pant, recalling how needy he was getting before the feline had come, and jumped on Incineroar's torso, wanting to approach his mouth once again. Who, however, pinned him down in almost no time at all, kissing his muzzle passionately as he unsheathed his own barbed rod along with the canine's.  
"Thought you could beat a wrestler, baby?" The biped Pokémon asked teasingly.  
Arcanine replied with a playful bark. That, along with the strong musk they were producing together, managed to wake Nick up, who wondered if they had been surrounded by Pokémon in heat. Once his sight was clear, he could see two of his dearest Pokémon grinding their members together, panting and huffing in pleasure. It didn't seem like a competition nor anything similar, but… It seemed that they were enjoying some time together. That was a good reason for the Trainer to smile.

"This is fine" the canine panted out, "but getting it wet would be way better".  
"A 69, sweetie?".  
"You just read my mind".  
The feline, on top of the the fire dog, was turning around, in order to put his barbed dick on his face, when the human boy went ahead and said:  
"Hey, guys. It looks that you finally put your differences to the side, isn't it?".  
Then both Pokémon looked at Nick, blushing wildly, trying to think what to say to him, even if the Trainer couldn't make any sense out of it.  
"By the way, if you don't wanna suck the other… which I understand, I can do it, too" the boy smiled with a blush which only transmitted some sort of embarrassment. "As long as you don't tell what I've done to you guys, okay?".

Both Incineroar and Arcanine looked at each other with puzzled faces, but eventually smirked and sat so that Nick could have access to their dicks. Already panting, he took off his shirt and sniffed both members, giving a shy lick to each one, almost afraid of how it would taste.  
"Not… half bad, honestly".  
It was clear the Trainer didn't actually want to have a cock in his mouth, but to please his Pokémon and avoid sparks from coming out, especially since it really seemed they were now getting along well.  
After some more shy licks, Nick started stroking both members with his hands eagerly, making sure the two fire boys were liking it. He engulfed one cock for a little while, then pulled out and sucked the other. While doing it for the fourth time or so, he realized he had a hand on his head, which petted him gently as he moaned out:  
"Keep it… going… We really like it".  
The human could only extract the meaning of the feline's _words _thanks to the sound he produced and his gestures. By that point, both were humping his face non-stop, starting to leak precum as they got closer to a release. The boy noticed it and went faster, licking around the tips more eagerly, now more used to the taste.

By speeding up slowly and patiently with his hand, and tracking their sweet spots down with his tongue, the Trainer managed to make the two Pokémon spill a decent white load on his face and neck. Panting heavily with some sweat drops on his forehead, he mumbled:  
"And… that should do it. Did you guys enjoy it?".  
Arcanine and Incineroar nodded, with a wide, exhausted smile on their faces, making Nick chuckle lightly.  
"In that case, I'll go take care of myself, since… What the heck, I got a boner, too". He let out a sigh, still blushing. "Not planning on sleeping with your cum: once I blow, I'll go wash it". Then he got up and just about he was going to start to walk back to his spot…  
"Hey, wait!".  
The fire dog seemed to have some more energies. The boy turned around with curiosity.  
"We can help you with that" the canine said eagerly, getting up once he caught his breath. "Right, Incineroar?".  
"What can we do after such a good job our Trainer did?".

The biped feline was hesitant to do so, especially since he noticed Nick a little concerned about the possible consequences. His blush did tell that quite well, even after what he had said.  
"You know love eventually turns to sex, right?" Arcanine commented, wagging his tail.  
"Okay, okay, guys, I'll let you do it". The boy then laid next to the big fire boys, taking the rest of his clothes off. That revealed his human, _average-but-somewhat-big-sized _shaft.  
The dog jumped right away on his Trainer's cock, licking it all excitedly with an innocent look in his eyes, seeming to be quite excited about doing that to him. As he let out some pleasurable moans, Incineroar had started licking his face clean, not even in an erotic way, but in a more servicing, but still affectionate way. After another moan, Nick approached the feline and kissed his mouth lovingly.  
"Hey, buddy, wanna have a taste? It's already leaking".  
"I guess I'll have to try it".  
Then the two Pokémon shifted positions, with the biped one licking around the human's cock carefully and the feral one licking his face all excitedly, but also nuzzling him lovingly, which they both loved.

When the Trainer's face was completely clean, Arcanine and Incineroar started cooperating to get more moans in pleasure from him, coating every single inch of his dick with their tongues and even playing with his balls. The boy couldn't help starting humping their faces, and then moaning out:  
"Guys… I'm gonna cum if you keep it up like this…".  
None of them were intimidated by that warning. In fact, it made them go harder on Nick's crotch, until he moaned out his orgasm while the Pokémon tried his best to share his seed and drink it.  
"Ooooooooh… Aaaaaaaaah… Thanks, guys, that was great. I loved it".  
Then he tapped on the ground several times, next to himself, making the dog and the feline cuddle with him, the boy hugging the canine and the biggest one taking the other two in his arms.  
"Y-you know? When I was with Sophie, and even with Paul, that big guy, even bigger than Incineroar… You do remember, right guys?".

None of the Pokémon were too happy about hearing the titan their big human boy, about the size of the biped Pokémon, was dating for a while. If the girls were quite mean with him, that lady killer, who inexplicably had _a crush _for Nick, really proved to be a garbage person while they were _a couple_. Even if he was attracted to boys, Nick didn't even think about dating one after that, and he was being more and more hesitant with girls, too.  
"Well, I ended up not enjoying their presence, much less in the bed, apart from the sexual satisfaction, of course. I don't get why the hell they insisted so hard in criticizing me both as a Trainer and _a man, _no matter what I tried to satisfy them. However… You guys have simply enjoyed it, not trying to tell me what to do nor anything. Maybe I haven't done it all that well, or maybe I don't taste exactly good myself, but you simply seem so satisfied…".  
Incineroar and Arcanine's response was simply hugging their Trainer. The feline added some gentle purrs on his back, while the canine nuzzled his chest lovingly. Some tears escaped from the boy's eyes.

"And that makes me happy. Not only now, always. Even if things don't look bright, you still motivate me to keep going. I guess you do know we have little to no chances to join the pro teams, and even then I'd refuse to. I don't want to be reminded how important you are to me the hard way yet again. Still, if the others can't stay, you'll be all I need to smile and face anything that challenges… us. Incineroar, again, sorry for not realizing…".  
It was at this point when Nick's voice become broken. The biped Pokémon, who hugged him lovingly, had always worried about his Trainer, even before he accepted getting that shot in his body, being the only one who loved him back better than the boy himself.  
"It's okay, I know it scared you really badly, and that you're not doing it again" Incineroar mumbled, wishing he could make him actually know what he was saying, while Arcanine tried to make Nick smile again. "Don't worry, that doesn't change anything between us".

* * *

After the human calmed down, the fire dog seemed really eager to play once again, as he was sniffing Nick's package hungrily, probably wanting to get him hard, while he was petted by that human hand he loved so much.  
"You… You're getting me rather hard, buddy" he mumbled nervously, with a smirk on his face.  
Incineroar was hugging him from behind, having forgotten about taboos and such. At least that's what his barbed rod poking his butt insinuated.  
"You want it at the same time, huh?".  
The two Pokémon nodded, even though the feline did it more shyly, apparently willing to wait for longer if that satisfied his Trainer better. Arcanine, however, was already in all fours, presenting his rear to the boy so that he mounted him.  
"Do it, Incineroar" the boy mumbled with a smile, as he got on top of the big canine, trying to get ready for penetrating him. "I'll do my best to resist it".  
"Are you…?".  
"Come, big boy, do it. I'll get used to it, and if I need to be _trained_" Nick winked at the feline just while saying that word, "I'll be pleased to learn with you guys".

Incineroar then nodded with a smile, and got behind his Trainer as he entered the dog's rear, making him let out some excited canine moans. Once the biped got comfortable and managed to insert himself into Nick's ass, his soft, pleasurable huffs turned to moans, half in pain, half in pleasure.  
"Aaaaaaaah… Aaaaaaah… J-just… wait a bit. I'll tell you when I'm ready to pump".  
Both the big, red Pokémon and the human got fully inside, the three producing sounds in pleasure as they all got used to the intense sensation. The one in the middle noticed the two fire beasts' growls, being aware they were growing impatient, almost certainly as much as himself for getting their thing started.  
"O-okay… I'm ready…".  
As soon as the human made the first thrust, the feline immediately followed up, being very gentle with the Trainer for the moment. Even Arcanine was thrusting back, making Nick moan louder and louder. They were certainly lucky that no one was around, except his other two Pokémon, who were barely awake by that point, not caring about what was going on.

The three _fire _boys sped up on each other, increasing their moans as a result, soon all of them wanting to snuggle closer and closer as they did it. Especially for the human boy, it was getting hotter and hotter, but the harder they pounded and moaned in pleasure, the better the pounding was exactly thanks to that. The two Pokémon were getting noticeably more pent up than the Trainer, but he managed to live up to the expectations his two lovers had when it came to resistance. Both to pleasure and extreme heat.  
"G-guys… I'm so close… Almost… cumming…".  
Obviously, any kind of resistance has a limit, and Nick's whimpers made the dog and the feline know he was about to hit it, so they both sped up his hips to the extreme, trying to make meeting that limit the best part. They ended up moaning their orgasms out the loudest they had ever done, as Arcanine came under his belly and the other two filled the one under himself's hole, everyone trembling in bliss.

Eventually, the boy, the canine and Incineroar laid on the ground, cuddling together, while still managing to keep their lengths in. They were panting extra hard and sweaty, which was normal for a human, but not for Fire-type Pokémon. Still, it didn't matter, since, thanks to the heat Arcanine and the biped feline produced, no one was catching a cold that night.  
"Guys… It's been great… Definitely the best way of consolidating a team… Hehe… Just kidding, now I realize you wanted this so bad. And I'm glad I got to try this… I think I'm sticking with Pokémon for this. Humans… they're just too picky. What should I think after Rebecca, Beth, Sophie… and even Paul or the boys who claimed having a _crush _on me? Oh, anyway… Good night, guys. Love you. Seriously, I love you so much".  
Nick closed his eyes as happily as the dog he had put his dick in, who was also going to sleep as he cuddled his dear Trainer in a way he had never achieved to do before. His feline teammate wasn't a problem. In fact, he had never been, since they both wanted now to make that strong, yet _useless _boy as happy as they could.


	2. An Unfair Fight

**Warning: Contains yaoi and adult themes!**

* * *

"Nick's Arcanine is KO! Verlix is the winner!".  
"Now, finish that fur bag!" The green-haired man screamed, with a sinister smirk being drawn on his dull face.  
The other Trainer gasped as he saw that dangerous Bisharp running towards his dog, now severely wounded, and raising his knife arm. He tried returning that Pokémon, but just as Incineroar's, who laid on one side of the arena, Arcanine's Poké Ball didn't work at all for some strange reason, refusing to make him safe and sound from his blood lusty opponent, who had his bloodshot eyes set on him. Seeing it wouldn't work, Nick decided to take a great risk.  
"Nick, NO!" Incineroar shouted, fear invading his body.  
Before that biped Pokémon could hit the canine once again, the muscular Trainer was pushing it away, under its pecs, with all his strength.  
"S-stop it..." He mumbled.  
"Don't play around, I want it DEAD".  
"Never!".

Somehow, the human boy had managed to hit Bisharp's crotch hard and knock him down temporarily, making some distance between it and his KO'd partner. In those moments, while the slimmer boy's eyes tried to make any sense in what he was seeing and the demonic laughs turned into a harsh cheering for the Pokémon to cut his way to the canine, the big feline approached a sharp, long metal rod. It wasn't an actual weapon, but his Trainer needed just anything to defend himself from that overpowered beast.  
"NIIICK!" He roared.  
Just in the moment his Trainer turned around, he threw the bar to him. Nick quickly caught it mid air and turned back to that Bisharp, now totally ready to battle for his beloved Arcanine's life, if necessary.  
"S-seriously!" Verlix tried to impose over the _soldier_. "Finish Arcanine!".  
"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" The muscular boy shouted, seeing Bisharp running towards him.  
Nick fought that dangerous Pokémon bravely, blocking most of his hits with that old bar and returning them fearlessly, focusing mostly on his head and torso, while he kept hoping someone would come and help him, even if the referee wasn't moving a finger and the crowd wanted blood to be spilled on the arena. Arcanine, behind him, tried his best to get up, but it was clear he was at the mercy of his opponent once the human would be defeated.

That courageous, yet stupid Trainer did get hit by the _soldier,_ cutting his arms really sharply, but not that deeply, even though the worst ones ended up on the hard sides, where it was safer to get cut, although some of those cuts hit his torso, not as close to his heart as Nick feared at first, albeit bad enough to make him far more aggressive when counter-attacking.  
"Y-you're m-making t-this w-worse!" Bisharp mumbled, clearly affected by the drugs that had been forced into his body.  
None of the strong Trainer's Pokémon out there had enough energies left to actually help him fight, and both started fearing he could get killed by that dangerous beast. However, that far stronger Pokémon was hesitating, probably because, even under the effect of those _crappy stimulants_, he knew hurting a human that bad was wrong in so many ways.

That's precisely what allowed Nick to strike it with the sharp rod several times and knock him down, this time, blocking his dangerous arms by using his hard knees. By that point, rage had invaded his mind.  
"LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE! JUST LET THEM LIVE, YOU BASTARD! YOU FUCKING ZOMBIE, MOTHERFUCKER!" He whimpered loudly, trembling greatly as he resisted the beast's attempts to get up.  
The muscular Trainer had started hitting Bisharp's head as roughly as he could with the tip of the bar, insulting him and his Trainer while sobbing desperately, his wounds bleeding quite a lot.  
"Please, stop!".  
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, BISHARP?!" Verlix was also getting really nervous.  
In the meanwhile, Incineroar tried to walk towards Nick, wanting him to stop his raging so bad, but, ultimately, it wasn't really necessary.  
"STOOOOOOOOP!" The Pokémon under that hefty human whimpered in an even greater desperation, with tears on his eyes.

When the boy actually stopped, his whole body was shaking, as a bunch of negative feelings ran wildly through it. The feline had arrived, and they helped each other get up, both wounded by Bisharp.  
"Did I... do this to you?" The smaller Pokémon asked, completely torn apart.  
"Yes... Yes, you did" Incineroar replied, since, unlike the Trainer, he could understand the one that had been their rival.  
If all of his Pokémon had worked it more or less half the way, Nick had actually managed to finish it. Even after getting his head beaten so hard, he still had that tough look on it. However, he was kneeling with its head down.  
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry for what I've done" Bisharp mumbled, surprising the tiger greatly. "I didn't want to do this, my... stupid Trainer forced me".  
"It's... ugh.. alright..." The feline was being held tenderly by the wounded human. "I know... what those things do...".  
"Are you fucking gonna tear them apart or not?!" Verlix was on his last nerve by that point.  
"Shut up, idiot!" The _soldier_ rudely replied.

Strangely, even with their poor condition, the nurses were nowhere to be found. But that wouldn't last for much longer. Especially with that smaller, but dangerous Pokémon, getting more and more furious.  
"Now I realize... I shouldn't have listened to him at all... He doesn't deserve... to be called a Trainer..." Bisharp had turned around, his arms shaking in rage. "He doesn't deserve being obeyed... nor having success... He doesn't deserve... being anything in this life!".  
As his mind was filled with fury, the _soldier_ ran quickly towards his Trainer and jumped against him, while Incineroar couldn't do anything about it. The heftier boy had also understood...  
"W-wait, STOP!" Nick shouted.  
It was too late, Verlix was already screaming in agony, while his eyes couldn't believe what that beast was doing to his own leader, trying to find the reason for doing... such an offense. Suddenly, he felt his energies fading away as he looked away from that visceral sight, knowing that's what would have happened to Arcanine, had he not reacted in time.  
"Aaaaagh... G-guys..." He mumbled before blacking out in the feline's arms, who also collapsed on the floor.

* * *

A frowning blonde guy walked around the halls inside that hospital, seeking that weak Trainer that had _killed_ Verlix. Well, that wasn't exactly true, but that didn't mean he couldn't become a problem soon if that boy didn't come to their side. Neither him nor his _companions_ nor their _bosses_ in Kanto could have imagined how much of a problem that _loss_ was becoming, and not because that green-haired freak was exactly useful. After all, he was just the favorite one to win the Alola League after humiliating that _attempt of Trainer_ in order to get redeemed and going back to Sinnoh. Not that good at all.

No, it was the circumstances around his death. Not only preventing the _sacrifice_ from happening, but also facing a Pokémon with his own fists were good reasons to black-list Nick. However, managing to somehow defeat and make it kill its Trainer could make him quite dangerous: if something like that happened again, their methods and battles would be even more questioned than before by the Alolans. That was a problem, since Team Plasma actually had a good influence in the region. They never totally welcomed foreign Trainers, much less actual pros, in the first place, and Verlix's incident was an even greater reason for them to disown _pro style_ Pokémon battles.

"Nick, aren't you?" He said, entering the dang room upon finding it.  
He didn't really expect to be welcomed by someone who openly talked against _that crap_. It wasn't difficult to know, as social media helped a lot for finding and choosing Trainers who needed to learn a lesson.  
"Who in the world are you?" Nick asked, not being intimidated by that almost emotionless face, even with his bandages around his body. Maybe the presence of those two big fire Pokémon was on his side.  
"Someone who you should listen to, _assassin_".  
"The fuck?".  
That Nick, who sat perplexed, had to learn not to touch their _partners_.  
"What I said: _assassin_. You killed Verlix, and you're gonna suffer the consequences... Unless you confess...".  
"Confess what, you jerk? I don't understand why that Bi...".  
"YOU DON'T, YOU LIAR? We have proof you injected a brainwashing stimulant while you hit the Pokémon, you cheater!".

That muscular, yet injured boy was shown a mobile telephone, which was playing a video. It was so badly edited he took a while to realize that was supposed to be the end of the battle against Verlix. The first half was, but the second half was a mystery. Someone could be seen injecting a syringe to something under them, which wasn't recognizable at all.  
"You call that poor montage _proof_?" Nick asked perplexedly, almost wondering he was being played a prank.  
"Stop defending yourself! You're gonna pay for what you did, not gonna mention learning to respect the rules".  
"What RULES?!" The boy was starting to run out of patience, getting angrier and angrier. "Isn't drugging your partners a clear violation of those _rules_? By this point...".  
"You need to respect _our_ rules!" The strange guy shouted, getting more furious for no apparent reason. "That big mass of fur...".  
"Oh, no! Not YOU again!".

The injured Trainer's face showed perplexity. The invader seemed like he had been cornered or discovered, as he cursed under his breath while a young woman, with short brown and pink hair, showed up and faced the blonde guy angrily.  
"Are we gonna have to kick you guys out the hard way?" She asked.  
"You're sucking my dick, bitch!".  
Her response was a lot more violent Nick or his Pokémon could imagine. After slapping his face hard, she was pulling his light yellow hair even harder, becoming defenseless after some seconds.  
"You're not so invincible on your own, are you?! Let this boy alone!".  
"LET ME GO, PUSSY! OTHERWISE...!".  
His attempts of threatening the livid nurse were useless, as a security man had appeared and both of them were carrying that guy away.

The three _fire_ boys there were still trying to digest what had happened when the girl came back.  
"Are... you guys okay?".  
Nick looked at the two bigger guys before turning his head back to the woman and replying:  
"We... think so? That was nuts".  
"I'm so sorry for behaving like that. I'm just as sick of those _pro_ Trainers as the rest of my workmates. Those just love abusing their power and Alolan people. And Pokémon".  
"No doubt on that" the Trainer commented, with a brow arched. "They should just try the things they inject to their partners".  
The girl chuckled after that comment, nodding and checking the monitors the three were connected to.  
"Those jerks don't seem to learn Pokémon hate having their will manipulated. They usually just blame the manufacturer if something doesn't work, which makes _some_ sense. After all, ripping off is those enterprises' passion. But when they get mad for being forced to do something that is wrong? They won't ever look at themselves".  
"In that case, blaming me for Verlix's death in the League is nothing strange at all. I've heard weird things about the elite, but that's crazy".

That somewhat strange girl stared at the wounded boy, bringing a hand to her mouth.  
"The thing is... this incident that happened 3 weeks ago... is totally unprecedented. Nothing like this had occurred before... You should know that Trainers whose dearest Pokémon are killed in the League are often turned into memes wherever that happens. There's a reason for that, which also applies to the badly injured of even those Trainers who defend their Pokémon: the _stimulants_ those jerks give them forces them to obey whatever they order, no matter how horrible it is. But Pokémon have a limit, and killing simply goes beyond it. And that's when the blaming thing comes into play, because they're aware that what they're doing, obeying their Trainers, is just wrong".  
"No wonder why people are usually laughing when the last Pokémon is about to faint: they must have simply assumed the poor Trainer is becoming something to mock after the battle is over".  
Even though Nick's point was a good one, that nurse knew it wasn't simply that.  
"A Pokémon who has been forced to do that will simply refuse to obey, or battle, at all. Plus, now we know making a Pokémon that hates you do that is simply digging your own grave. Except the _pros_, and their followers and imitators. Basically, most of people will just blame the victims, just as with woman abuse, in order to keep the offenders' status consolidated. Especially outside of Alola, this has become culture, not to mention money and fear play a big role. It doesn't always happen, though, only Trainers that the elite doesn't like suffer that".

The Trainer sighed, having the impression he was being read some weird propaganda.  
"Aaaaaaand... This is when you tell me to leave my Pokémon behind, and blah, blah, blah, right? I mean, sure, what the _caesars_ do is regrettable, but your side isn't much better. I'm not paying for the sins of others".  
The girl then chuckled, and smiled tenderly at the three.  
"The ones I do support are Team Plasma. Those, by this point, only want the pro Trainers madness to end, and coexist peacefully with Pokémon without having to battle other than... maybe some fun for everyone. The yellows are simply the most dangerous thing a communist could become. I suspect that most of those want to destroy the _caesars' reign_ simply because they were unable to take control from inside. But guess what? They aren't welcome in my land, our land, either, and I can say I won't fear slapping one of those on their faces as proudly as the fact I _personally_ chose to save your lives over that green-haired guy's".  
"And why didn't you...?".  
"Show up sooner?" She interrupted the boy with a sad smile. "They wanted to get Arcanine killed, but after that Pokémon went nuts, we were rushed to aid his Trainer. If we had obeyed, your recovery time would be much longer. The fact that you're getting out of here with no effects caused by your wounds is a miracle, especially after what we had to overcome in order to aid you. But seriously, if they want culprits for that worthless stupid boy's death, let me face them. Saving lives is my priority, not what they say, and I knew your rival was doomed once his own Pokémon attacked him".

* * *

The person Nick said goodbye to when he left Mt. Lanakila's hospital was Sam, that girl that had told him all those things about the _pro_ Pokémon battles: why he had been accepted into the League in the first place, the fact the elite behaved like a mafia, why the Poké Balls had _stopped working_ when Incineroar was KO, the reason why Alola was so _unique_, compared to other regions, etc.  
"Jeez... There's actually a good point on not having traditional Pokémon Gyms as a response to people demanding not to enter Kanto's program. It is something in between, after all".  
Thoughts like those, some of them concerning about how safe he or his friends could be after what happened in the League, flooded the boy's mind, as he saw some guys who were laughing like crazy before he personally faced Bisharp look at him with hatred, or fear, while he walked away from the bloody arena the League had taken place. None of those who judged him with their eyes were native, judging from their extremely light skin, so he wasn't all that worried about what the locals might think.

Since he had left the hospital in the afternoon, the Trainer and his Pokémon ended up having to sleep in a cave, as he got lost and the exit back to the port was nowhere to be found. Plus, the clock reminded him the time, almost 10PM and the fact he needed to eat and sleep some.  
"You can get out, guys" Nick said, holding the four Poké Balls with both hands.  
When it came to food, the muscular boy take care of buying as much things all 5 of them (in short, both human and Pokémon) could safely eat as possible. After all, Pokémon-specific food was mighty expensive, and tasted awful. It was worse than those bizarre super nutritious meals some were into, and at least anyone could eat fruit without fearing weird consequences. It lasted quite a lot inside his bag as well. As long as Torkoal was careful with his part.  
"Careful, Torkoal. I know you love carbonized fruit, but not so much myself" he commented with a tender smile.

Once their humble, yet filling meal was over, everyone fell asleep... except the Trainer. Not even the food made him forget about the blonde Trainer's threats, whose name seemed to be Carlos. If that elite mafia was actually taking revenge against him for Verlix's incident, there was a reason for thinking his beloved big dog could be in danger and regretting having entered the League in the first place. Heck, he would have been killed if he hadn't faced the danger himself. That was a clear sign he couldn't be leading from behind anymore, not if he cared about his Pokémon. Releasing them was out of the question: it wasn't like any of them really wanted to leave, and he'd awfully hate himself if he did that.

Nick got up slowly, and managed to calculate how much space he had available in that darkness. Then he started practising some guard positions and punches he barely remembered from a karate school he attended for a short time when he was young, around 11 years old, way before he decided to go ahead and trying to become a Trainer. For the moment, he didn't feel he was doing it too well, but that was better than nothing.  
"N-nick? Is... something wrong?".  
The boy stopped his hits to the air and looked at the source of that soft howling. It was Arcanine, looking at him with his doggy smile, but showing a concerned face.  
"Oh, Arcanine... Did I wake you up, buddy?" The Trainer asked, sitting next to the big canine.  
The Pokémon simply replied with some loving laps on his face, making Nick chuckle and pet his head tenderly.  
"I'm fine, I promise. I was just... thinking... You know, even if most of those Trainers refused to see it... You guys have got stronger with all the battles you've been through during our journey, but myself... I've simply cowardly directed you from behind... And can't stick to that anymore, not if those cheaters who had treated the Kahunas and the natives as some sort of red tape are going after _us_ now".

Arcanine let out a soft whine, nuzzling the Trainer lovingly. He was aware his journey was almost over, but no matter what he chose after, he would be around, as long as that made him happy. He didn't expect what the human had to say, though.  
"When we're in my home, we're gonna keep training, myself included, and... I w-want you to battle me as you do with the rest, okay? After all, what you guys gave me last time was only getting started for me, you know?".  
The fire dog had a sorta lewd smile after that comment, but Nick chuckled, making him understand that he was joking about the _training thing_ in Poni Island. They were fortunate that place was kinda deserted, since they had to walk for a while before being able to get washed after that night of fun.  
"But now seriously: from now on, I'm also taking scratches. I think it's the best I can do for you, especially after what happened with Verlix".

The big Pokémon quickly nodded and nuzzled the human boy lovingly, soon adding licks to the affection giving. He responded by hugging the dog and cuddling with him, who got on top of the Trainer playfully and pressed his muzzle against that tender mouth of his. Nick kissed back with the same kindness he had been lapped, at which point he suddenly felt Arcanine... humping his crotch sorta eagerly. The human knew really well what that meant.  
"Hehe... You wanna play, don't you?".  
The canine nodded again, this time with a smirk.  
"No wonder, 5 weeks in continuous observation is too much time for anyone who needs some privacy... Or is it heat and I'm not aware yet?".  
The Pokémon just humped his Trainer again and licked his face. His eyes were exclusively set on Nick.  
"Okay, okay, boy. I know how much you like me. Let me get rid of these and I'll work your thingy up to 100% stifness".

Arcanine let him go and wagged his tail excitedly as Nick took his clothes off in a silly, yet somewhat seductive way. That alone was enough to make the dog unsheathe and show his red length while his face flustered. The human's dick was also a bit hard.  
"Did I do this well? Oh well, at least it helped you reveal it. Lay on your back, big boy".  
The fire canine quickly obeyed, exposing his rocket and its scent, while his hefty Trainer reached his hefty bag, somewhat concerned about the strong scent leading to someone discovering them. Still, he didn't take long to find a thin bottle of lube he bought as soon as he arrived at Ula'ula. It was still to be opened, since he had preferred to focus on the League and think about the fun later. If only he had realized entering there was such a mistake before.  
"Here it is, buddy" Nick was having some trouble keeping his low voice due to the excitement. "Don't hump, or move, or cum until I'm done lubing you up".  
The big Pokémon panted heavily as he got cold, dense liquid from that bottle spilled on his member. His pants got even heavier once the muscular human boy massaged it softly with his hands. His happy face gave his enjoyment away, and his whole body was trembling softly once Nick was done with that massage. When he got on all fours on the spot he was punching to the air before, looking at the canine while presenting his ass, that big, fluffy dog quickly got up in excitement, his wet dick twitching wildly.

"P-plug it in slowly, big boy" the Trainer mumbled. "I still need to get used to having such big sizes".  
Arcanine approached the boy eagerly and lined his rod up with his ass, _mounting_ him, even without any need to do so due to his size, as he really wanted to cuddle the human while doing it, and then softly pushing himself into Nick, letting out a little pleasurable whine.  
"Mmmmmmmmmmm! J-just like that, keep going slowly".  
Both of them tried his best to avoid moaning too loudly, so that their mates wouldn't be woken up. That was pretty hard already with their male scents floating in the air, and as the Trainer was totally hard and twitching because of the size he was taking, the musk would get really nasty in that cave and its surroundings.  
"N-nick... You're so tight...".  
"Aaaaaaah... Don't push back... I... I like it...".  
Even though the boy's back was capable of resisting quite a lot of strength, he was actually trembling like a leaf, overwhelmed by that feral pleasure the dog was giving him, to the point he was already leaking some precum. Once that dick was fully in, he let out another high-pitched, but contained moan.

Nick took quite some time to assimilate Arcanine inside his ass, but once the pain was gone, what ruled his mind was a great desire of getting his hole burnt due to extreme stimulation. Trying to move back and forth, he mumbled:  
"I'm... ready... Take me, buddy... Take my rear...".  
The Pokémon didn't even think twice before beginning his motion with his hips, his own moans and pants and his Trainer's mixing together as they enjoyed that dirty act, even though he hesitated to go harder on the sorta smaller guy for the moment.  
"Ar... Arcaniiiiiiine... Aaaaaaaaah... Keep going... More... Faster... Haaardeeeeer...".  
The dog's doubts vanished quickly as the boy begged lowly for more, his fit body trembling as if it had lost all its strength. His thrusts got way harder while his mind succumbed to his instincts, which told him to rock his rear until his hips couldn't move anymore from extreme fatigue.  
"I love you... Nick... my beautiful Trainer... I have... so much to give you..." Arcanine groaned out, leaking pre inside and getting closer to the orgasm.  
"Arcanine... Aaaaaaaah... Can feel your knot... Must... so biiiiiig... Tie me... Burn my ass...".  
As he got closer to the climax along with his Pokémon, Nick was less capable of saying anything coherent, his mouth only letting low whimpers out in ecstasy, the same feeling that caused tears to escape from his dark eyes.

The human boy let out a little squeal and really high-pitched little whimpers as the dog knotted him with a whine, flooding his ass with his seed while the Trainer spilled his own on the floor. He didn't take long to collapse and pant heavily, trapped under the enormous canine, also exhausted. He was sweaty as hell, but it was no big deal for him, especially since his big buddy was now cuddling him, licking his messy face tenderly.  
"Oooooooooh... Hope you enjoyed it... as much as myself... I definitely should say... you deserved taking me like this... after... what I make you go through... B-but I enjoyed it so much... Haaaaa... Love you, buddy...".  
That's when Nick fainted under Arcanine, who nuzzled his face lovingly and slowly closed his eyes, falling asleep with him. In the meantime, Incineroar smirked on the other side of the cave, half asleep, but with his erection partially exposed.

"Hey, Incineroar".  
"Yes, Torkoal?".  
"How's that you and Arcanine like our Trainer... that much?".  
"Gotta admit he's hot, but my true crush is Arcanine, you know? I care for Nick in a sorta different way, even though I'll be pleasing him if that makes him happy".  
"Too much for me to handle... But he certainly is a nicer guy than most... If only I was more useful...".  
"It seems we have time to figure that out, Torkoal. Don't worry...".  
"Didn't... Oh, whatever. Good night, Incineroar".  
"Good night".  
The big feline wasn't going to sleep yet, since he felt like stroking himself, especially after seeing that big, cute boy using his tool in such a way. He did hope the human would be fine in the morning, although he was an inch or two smaller than the canine, so it hopefully wasn't excessive.


	3. A Painful Loss

Incineroar was probably sadder than anyone else staring at that grave. Even more than his beloved Trainer. Only in moments like those, he could be glad that Nick couldn't understand what he or Arcanine could say. Probably because he felt troubled as hell, not knowing whether to be sadder for the human, who prayed silently, or Torkoal, who had finally found peace at the most abrupt way imaginable: by saving the boy from getting crushed by the landslide that occurred just as they were leaving Mt. Lanakila, clearly caused by some other humans who had them as a target. Who had been sent by that elite group, mad at Nick for fighting a Pokémon who ended up attacking his own Trainer. The feline knew perfectly why the fire turtle didn't hesitate in protecting the human: he felt useless, that his life was a waste and his only true purpose he could have was being used as some sort of _kamikaze. _As a sacrifice for saving his team from that deadly trap.

They were back in Iki Town, where the big tiger joined Nick while the Pokémon was still a little kitten and the human had his mind set in demonstrating he knew Alola as well as he thought and proving himself as an adult. He was hit hard by another reality: almost all Trainers were just 11-year-old selfish kids, whose path was nice and easy... At least against the Gym Leaders and so long as they used their journey mates as mere tools for achieving victory. That was not how that 16-year boy felt about his Pokémon. Otherwise, he wouldn't be praying before Torkoal's grave, he wouldn't have felt anguish filling his mind when they got that turtle's corpse from under the rocks. He wouldn't be staying for so long in that place, trying to find support from the others and forgive himself. That's where Incineroar felt he would miserably fail. Wanting to comfort his Trainer, he would probably have said that the turtle had done it because he loved him. Or maybe that he was finally resting in peace. Maybe that Torkoal was probably fine with the outcome. The red tiger did shed some tears, thinking that saying anything at all would hurt the boy even more.

"What on earth are you doing here, you weepy faggot? Men aren't supposed to cry".  
No one could be ever saying that as a sloppy attempt to comfort anyone. Not in the slightest. The three Fire-type Pokémon turned around, frowning, while the big dog even growled in a threatening way. While those cruel insults triggered Incineroar and Volcarona, the childish and arrogant tone that blonde girl used was enough to anger Arcanine. But she got no response from the Trainer.  
"Pfft, it's almost sad to see such a brown-skinned, mixed-race, handsome guy expecting his Pokémon to defend him outside the battlefield. That doesn't care about getting others in the hospital".  
Nick finally wiped off his tears and faced her with a sad and angry expression. He couldn't bear hearing others talking about his in-between skin tone but having his Pokémon accused of being dangerous beasts got him on his last nerve.  
"What... do you want?!" He finally asked, trying his best not to yell at her.  
"I was just wondering for how long you were gonna extend this silly funeral" she talked as if empathy couldn't be something to be expected. "A grave for your Pokémon. Those are for show, keep in mind, hand...".

"You haven't stepped in here casually, have you?" The Trainer interrupted that pussy girl. "How do I know you aren't sent by the same ones that want me and my friends DEAD?!".  
Not even pointing that word out frightened her at all. She just made a face and continued:  
"You... don't really want to do more crazy things, like making Pokémon kill Trainers. Or keeping such useless Pokémon in your team. Yeah, I know, Pokémon HAVE to be with us humans, otherwise, they're nothing at all, but good Trainers can only use purebred Pokémon, those that just need a little shot to humiliate entire teams before you".  
"And why don't you go back to your deluxe training area, fucking bitch?" The boy's mind was finally blurring with anger. "Focus on your oh so successful Pokémon, and mind your own frigging business!".  
"Nick..." The fire feline mumbled, putting a hand on his shoulder with concern.  
"You're as stubborn as your ancestors, aren't you?" The childish teen girl was partially taking off her top, exposing her boobs almost entirely. "Don't you realize the incredible potential you have?".

She was walking slowly towards him, while the canine got ready to attack her by the time she did something that really bugged him.  
"You just need to replace these stupid Pokémon and glory will be yours: victories, money, hot girls... Once you get rid of this tantrum and these dumbbells, you'll celebrate your first night as a win...".  
As her breasts were at almost half a meter from Nick, he quickly got up and punched her face the hardest he had ever done it. That and his livid expression were enough to make the long-haired blonde give some steps back.  
"If I ever replace my Pokémon as the disposable tools you say they are, I won't use them to be the champion of your pussy, but TO MERCILESSLY KILL STUPID, SELFISH PEOPLE LIKE YOU. I DON'T GIVE A FUCKING SHIT FOR YOUR GLORY, JUST GONNA MAKE YOU ALL SUFFER UNTIL YOU STOP BREATHING! UNTIL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU ENDS UP IN A GODDAMN...!".  
"Nick, stop! Please!" Incineroar begged, hugging him from behind firmly.  
That only calmed him down for one second or so.  
"You great MOTHERFUCK...!".  
"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" The feline grabbed him even tighter, shaking him in pure desperation.

It hurt. That enormous red tiger couldn't describe how much it hurt to see his beloved Trainer being consumed by hatred and fury. Even after he stopped yelling at that stupid human and his head looked down at the ground, his heart kept racing, and there was no sign of her planning to retire for the moment.  
"Now, that's what I call ridiculous" the blonde continued, frowning, but still acting as if she was trying to attract the Trainer. "Getting stopped from breaking something by your own Pokémon. Like my heart, or your possibilities of...".  
"FUCK OFF, BITCH!" Incineroar roared furiously, fed up with hearing that pussy girl talk like that about Nick and his friends.  
That was what broke the _bitch _'s mask and made her show herself as what she was: an _agent _sent to threaten and taunt that _loser. _  
"Do you think it's nice to let such rude Pokémon do as they will? Now, listen closely, Nick, because you're in serious trouble. You're gonna pay for Verlix's death, for killing him" Arcanine growled loudly, his mind totally set on attacking that pussy girl. "You better do what you're told to if you...".

The blonde got suddenly interrupted not by the dog's jump, but a huge flame from the side that set her on fire, finally making her run away as she howled in pain. Now the only thing around here was the trees that demarcated the grave area.  
"Volcarona..." the canine and the feline mumbled, looking at the giant butterfly as he stared at the girl that had been burned by his anger, as great as everyone else's.  
As Arcanine kept looking at the flying Pokémon, Incineroar tried to calm down Nick, who had begun crying silently again, while tears fell from his face.  
"It's okay, Nick" the tiger attempted to hug the human as sweetly as he could. "It doesn't matter, really".  
It was pointless to try. The boy had eventually started sobbing loudly, his sight blurring with his own tears as they filled his face and fell to the ground. Self-hatred and disappointment were what he felt in that moment.  
"I've just said such horrible things... I lose control of myself so easily... How can you stay by my side after threatening someone else like that? I don't deserve you at all... You deserve..." He mumbled between sobs as his legs gave in, only partially kept from the floor by the feline.

"Nick, it's okay" Incineroar tried to comfort his Trainer the best he could, even though his eyes were also teary. Arcanine whined lowly, rubbing himself with the human as an attempt to make him feel better, while Volcarona just frowned even more. "I'm not... No one's leaving you... I-I'm staying with you, Nick. I won't go away, even if you want that or... think you don't deserve us. You're better than that...".  
The feline, in fact, also felt troubled for what he was saying. That came straight from his heart, but it also revealed a good bit of _selfishness _from him: wanting to stay with Nick, even against his own desires. The boy wouldn't care about that, though, his own _mistakes _made him feel like shit.  
"I LET TORKOAL DIE! T-THEN I WANTED TO KILL...".  
"STOP IT! NOW!".  
Again, it was the fire butterfly who acted in a significant way, standing before Nick angrily, even though it was impossible not to see sorrow escaping from his bug-like blue eyes. That had stopped the Trainer from sobbing anymore, but he didn't dare to eye any of his Pokémon.  
"Look at me immediately".

Incineroar wiped his tears as he softly rubbed the boy's chin lovingly, managing to direct that teary face to his own and giving him a warm smile before pointing at Volcarona. The human eventually faced that Pokémon, who hadn't changed his expression at all while waiting.  
"Volcarona, you...".  
"I don't give a SHIT about what _bad things _you've done" he interrupted the Trainer, "not when you're already tormenting yourself like that. I simply REFUSE to get you replaced by _something better. _I don't want any _good Trainer _looking after me, not after people like those took me away from my own mother. Nick, you're not a monster, you couldn't be even if you tried, just because you're worthy. Way more than they make you think, and you're the only reason I have in this world to fight for. I understand that now you'll want to be able to fight just by yourself, right? Fine, go for that, but you'll always have me by your side. And I SWEAR, death is the only thing that will ever separate me from you. GOT IT?".

Nick didn't have any way at all to know what exact words the flying Pokémon was saying. From his tone, he could extract that, if he was giving him a reprimand, its only purpose was so that he would get up. Or probably, since his other two partners cuddled him in a tender way, Volcarona was telling him in a rough way how important he was for his partners. He wasn't crying anymore, even though he just needed a push in the wrong direction to fall apart again.  
"Sorry... I'm such a bratty...".  
"You aren't".  
The three Pokémon turned to the bush near the limits of the area. The Trainer didn't care in the slightest in that painful moment, but his friends were in guard from the first second.  
"Who's there?" Arcanine barked energetically, positioning himself to attack.  
The boy hiding in the bush had noticed that since he came out of it while raising his slim hands, perfectly visible for anyone around. His hair was sorta long, with a dark golden tone, while his eyes were a faint blue tone, even fainter than the sky. His face wasn't precisely the prettiest to look at, but certainly not the unpleasing experience a veteran Trainer from Johto or Unova would have given.

"I come in peace, I swear".  
Even if his eyes were kinda red by that point, Nick didn't take too long to notice that average boy was wearing a Team Plasma pin. Not as bad as a yellow, as far as he knew, but he wouldn't really trust him completely, either.  
"Oh, really?" The Trainer asked somewhat sarcastically. "In that case, you can keep your political discourse for yourself. I'm not buying any of that crap, okay?".  
"I just wanted... to tell you that... you're not alone, Nick" the paler guy didn't give up just yet. "And I'm not saying that as a supporter of Team Plas...".  
The sad Trainer only responded with a frown, trying to make him understand he wasn't in the mood for any of that shit.  
"Well, who am I kidding? That too. But what I mean is, I'm saying that mostly as a young Alolan, more than anything else, as someone who shared the fear of his parents while you were fighting that Pokémon. I couldn't even think about telling you to release your Pokémon".  
"Am I an exception for the yellows or something?" Nick asked impatiently, as Incineroar tried to comfort him.  
"I hate those folks you're talking about even more than you think. And, honestly, I don't think anyone who backs Team Plasma would ask you to let these big guys go. It is so clear you care for them so much... And I can tell they feel the same for you...".  
"Yes..." the boy eventually gave in with a sigh. "Even though I'm not strong enough to fight with... or for them...".  
"The only things I can respond to that are: _you're absolutely nuts, _and _I promise to bite anyone on the crotch who says you did what you did for showing off. _Few people would think like that. I can only recall that poor guy...".

The Trainer let out another sigh, standing still properly once again, even if his teary face showed how shattered he was inside. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that guy's group wasn't as bad as the _caesars _or the _yellows, _even though the crimes they had committed in Unova several years made him doubtful.  
"Well, if you tell me where or how I could get stronger alongside my friends, I might have a better opinion of this Team Plasma of yours, you know?".  
"You're really calling them _friends, _huh?" the long-haired boy smiled.  
"Being a mixed-race isn't super helpful when you wanna make friends in school. Or anywhere in Alola, for that matter. Pokémon at least don't care about any of that".  
"Anyway..." the Team Plasma guy sighed. "I do have a ticket for a ferry to Sinnoh who was meant for someone who was helping in there but backed out. It's a long path, but you could start by going there, you know?".  
"Heh, that's what I call a good trap" Nick smirked, surprised about that offer in case it was genuine. "Fine then, give it to me" he frowned in a challenging way.

As soon as that other boy with the pin let the ticket visible, the Trainer took it from his hand sorta violently, just to start examining it.  
"If I can give a good fight to all gym leaders in Sinnoh, I guess I could consider myself ready for fighting those who are going after me".  
The brown-skinned boy heard a chuckle and a bark from each side. It was the fire tiger and the fire dog, respectively.  
"If you ever need help there, keep in mind Team Plasma is with you".  
"Yeah, yeah" Nick said, not really listening to that guy. "Now go away. Please".  
That boy's look became less harsh and more... pleading, almost as if he was sorta ashamed. As soon as the three Pokémon got between the Team Plasma guy and himself, he sighed and returned to pray for Torkoal. As those foreign, deep eyes were targeted by the three fire Pokémon, he understood what that Trainer was doing. Smiling shyly, he said:  
"You don't have to be ashamed of...".  
"You're now doing nothing here" Volcarona stated in a deep tone. "Leave".

That guy eventually understood Nick needed some privacy. And that was fine for him, as long as there were any chances of helping him _freeing Alola from being a Japanized region. _It was some crap stuck in his head, whose origin was in the yellows, even though Team Plasma had taken over it since natives were fed up with them and the Pokémon being punching bags for foreigners. Even if he only cared about his Pokémon, it would be a nice starting point for people to start losing their fear of the ones from Kanto. While it was true that seeing non-purebred Pokémon resisting against drugged ones for so long was such a rare sight, Nick might inspire others to start actually fighting for the ones they love, no matter if they're humans or Pokémon. Nevertheless, that Team Plasma supporter believed the Trainer could eventually face the ones that want him out of the game as bravely as he battled for his mates' lives. Smiling and making a thumbs up to the three fire beasts, he walked away. Volcarona and Arcanine wouldn't budge, but Incineroar began wondering how far Nick's wave on the battlefield could actually reach, had it not reached its peak.

* * *

After finishing his prayers, Nick had two or three hours for taking that ferry to Sinnoh, which should be enough for telling his parents and buying more food for the journey and a memory card for his camera. Indeed the one he had from the start was enough for the whole journey, even at his pace, but the picture he took of the turtle's grave was the last one that would fit, and he definitely wanted to show his mother what he would see in Sinnoh, too. The one who opposed so much to his journey, and would probably not want to let go of him after what happened in the League. Even his father, at first excited about him _walking the path of the winners, _would be hesitant about letting him go train somewhere else, and considering he was never going to enter a bloody arena like that... Even himself was doubtful about taking that ferry he had just been offered, knowing he was the target of an elite mafia and it would take so long to reach its destination.

"Have you lost it?!" a man in a blue suit, just back from work, shouted at the darker-skinned boy. "You can't take a single battle, and you know you won't last even an entire round, right?".  
"Maybe, but... it's for good reason" the boy attempted to protest, starting to fear everything he had learned over the months his previous journey had lasted didn't actually mean anything at all.  
"You're not going anywhere, and I want those Pokémon out of my sight by tomorrow!" his father continued.  
"Mom..." Nick begged, hoping she'd be a little more merciful.  
"Well..." the _old _woman's face was so severe, shouting was pointless. "You don't seem all that excited about going to Sinnoh. Do you actually want to?".  
"It's not like I want to... I have to... I need to become stronger, I can't just stay behind them, or they might...".  
Tears emerged from the boy's eyes again, which made his father even more furious.  
"What sort of crap have the yellows injected into your brain, you idiot? _Getting stronger, _you say? You're gonna get yourself...!".  
"Enough" the woman said. "I want to see your Pokémon".

Nick obeyed dejectedly. Incineroar, Arcanine, and Volcarona were standing next to him the next second. The tiger was particularly shocked, mainly because he recognized that face perfectly: his Trainer's mother, the one who looked at him as if he was a toy he had been given by a stranger when he was a small Litten. Just the opposite as he had always felt. And no matter how, he was willing to show his Trainer wasn't as bratty as he thought he was. Even humiliation was fine, as long as that old native human understood he couldn't live without Nick.  
"Everyone look at me" she ordered.  
The woman walked in front of them, making visual contact with his son and the Fire-type Pokémon in all moments, attempting to transmit her concern and her will to test them as a team in the most significant way to all of them. The giant butterfly could tell she didn't want them to leave, not if their friendship wasn't strong enough to resist the end of the world itself.

"Do you know what your Trainer wants to do?" she started. "Getting stronger, fighting by your side, risking his life for yours if necessary... Did you know this before myself?".  
The three Pokémon nodded quickly, without hesitation.  
"Do you think someone made him want that?" the woman made a pause, waiting for a response from any of them, before making the next question. "Is that wish your Trainer's will?".  
Another group nod, excluding Nick, was the answer she got.  
"How much does your Trainer care for you?".  
Even if communication was gonna be a huge deal for answering that question, Incineroar still wanted to try. Maybe his tone...  
"He would...".  
"Don't say it" Nick's mother said. "It's pointless. Just show me: how much does your Trainer care for you?".  
The tiger started wondering whether he'd end up submitting to a powerful being just to save their lives. He'd probably fight first, but for the moment, the only thing that big Pokémon could do was kneeling before the old woman, the one that would decide whether they would go to Sinnoh or stay and wait for the elite to come after him.

"Incineroar..." the Trainer mumbled, extremely shocked.  
Arcanine imitated the feline's actions, lowering his head lightly. Volcarona, as he couldn't properly _kneel _before that concerned mother, decided to try to tell her with his own look how much he appreciated Nick bore the extreme heat of his wings in order to feed him or attend him, knowing that he pictured the burned towels he had lied on before tossing them, as a reminder of a rough time he had suffered.  
"How much do you love him?" the woman said.  
Then the dog and the tiger completely humiliated themselves, followed by a begging whine coming from the canine. The flying Pokémon was behind Nick, at the closest safe distance from his Trainer, giving a threatening look to his mother, showing that anyone who hurt him beyond scratching his skin would end up burning, his own rage as the perfect fuel. Just as that pussy girl.  
"Guys...".  
"You're making such a ridiculous...".  
"Silence" she interrupted her husband with the harshest tone she had ever used. "This is all your fault. I'm judging the result of your mistake". The mother looked back at Nick and ordered: "Your turn now: show me your love for your Pokémon".

That's when that poor Trainer kneeled before his mother and completely lowered his head, joining his hands as if he was begging to a god.  
"I know I'm not worth anything at all. I've always been a lonely brat, who started a journey by whim, just wanting to get some friends" his voice became shaky, almost as he was going to break down, while looking at his apparently apathetic mother. "And even if these aren't the friends I wasn't expecting by then, I wouldn't change them for anything in this world. I might have not treated them as nicely as I should have, but I'll say sorry as many times as necessary in order to let everyone know I'm aware of my mistakes, including entering that goddamn League, and I'll risk my life a thousand times for them if I put them in danger like that again, without hesitation. And I swear that my only impulse to be stronger is protecting them from myself and stop being a coward commander as the rest of Trainers. I PROMISE to them, to anyone who asks, that I'll only be back once I'm strong enough to fight with my own hands, but I need to go... Please... I don't want anyone else to die because of myself...".

By the time Nick's begging stopped, he was being hugged tenderly by Arcanine and Incineroar, who smiled to him, upon making visual contact, as they tried transmitting the fact that he wasn't alone in his journey of gaining the strength he needed for facing anyone who wanted to put a knife on any of them. When the human hugged them back, they lowered the head at the same time. As the woman wanted to show some mercy to his own son, he slowly approached them, just to anger Volcarona.  
"Don't dare touch them" he said, his tone being enough to set her back.  
Letting out a sigh, the mother's judgment was finally settled. She said:  
"Get up".  
They obeyed silently as the Trainer wiped off the tears from his eyes, barely seeing his father with a disappointed look.  
"You shall set out on the journey in Sinnoh, as your Trainer truly desires" she slowly talked in a severe way. "However, you must fulfill my only demand: no matter how strong, weak, sick, or healthy anyone is, in the easy and rough times, for any good or bad things, I want you all to ALWAYS be a team, now and forever, even beyond us mortals' realm. No one must ever fall behind, and no one must ever back out. I want to see you guys together when your Trainer is back home. Understood?!".  
"Yes..." they all replied in unison.  
"Now, hele pēlā!" the woman shouted, wanting them to go away immediately.

* * *

Nick closed his camera's case, after taking a look at the brand new memory card he had just bought. It wasn't inserted yet since he wanted to take the first picture in it once he arrived in Sinnoh. He wasn't in the mood to think about taking photos, anyway: his mind was set in thinking about what had happened since Torkoal's corpse was buried in that humble grave. The taunting pussy, the strange guy who put him on the ship he had his feet set on at that moment, passing the greatest psychological trial presented by his own mother... The fact that everything he had done since he started his journey through Alola, was his father's mistake...  
"Feels so lonely..." the boy mumbled, looking around at the other Trainers and the landscape of his town.  
Those folks were most likely Trainers who hadn't succeeded at _gaining the right to come back to their region as a legit Trainer. _The fact that he couldn't see anyone with Poké Balls and even having Pokémon around outside the meal times was forbidden helped make the brown-skinned Trainer guess seem quite sensible. Even if there were some folks with Team Plasma pins.

He could hear a general sigh once the ferry set sail and began slowly moving. All these failed Trainers were finally relieved of moving away from their ultimate failure, but for the brown-ish boy, it was quite difficult to leave his home again. Not only because of what he had been through in the last months but the fact of leaving one of his mates behind, inside a coffin in Iki Town's cemetery. Facing those last minutes before losing sight of Alola were even tougher without his Pokémon's company: even when they were sleeping, unconscious or whatever, having them beside him made him feel much less lonely. They weren't the kind of permanent friends one could expect from a Trainer's journey, but, as he showed to his mother, they were even more valuable than human mates to Nick. Even in the bed. In fact, while the nights with most girls (and even boys, for that matter) were usually quite unpleasing, except maybe when actually fucking, that native-ish Trainer had a fond memory of cuddling those two big fire boys intimately, totally naked, after helping each other deal with their boners. Totally forgetting what he had done with his Pokémon was actually _wrong. _

Of course, that was something that couldn't be told to anyone at all, not even his family. It wouldn't make sense, anyway: even if he had a picture of that, no words could describe how happy he felt once that huge doggo stopped playing weird on everyone except Nick, or while actually hugging them lovingly as if time had stopped. The sensation of seeing his mother on the rooftop, with that sad face which definitely showed her aging even at several miles of distance, making a sign with both of her hands to say goodbye to his son, was the saddest he had ever felt. Not only he had the test she made to them as a team very present in his mind, but he felt that Torkoal, in a way, could be also saying farewell to his former Trainer. Nevertheless, the boy regretted not having been able to spend more time with her before departing, especially because he wished he could have seen the mother he had always known, instead of the ultimate test for him and his friends.

However, even if Volcarona did, Nick couldn't hate her at all. Not even if he tried. The tough commander look she had was obviously a well-crafted mask as she now looked, even at that distance, as an old woman terribly concerned about his child. She was probably looking for the feelings they had for each before letting them go, as people like her had quite a better eye and were more sensitive to people's and Pokémon's emotions than most. That was probably the reason why having a good time with foreigners was so hard, as most folks hang up with others for convenience, and not actual friendship. And given she would be able to tell how he was feeling inside at that moment, he decided to take the last chance to say goodbye to her, as the ship was probably at the edge where a sound as powerful as a war cry could barely reach her. Nick somehow managed to get on a quite high spot on the deck and position himself very quickly, finding his mother again in the distance once he was ready.

The boy began letting out the highest cries he had ever done, long and powerful, yet filled with sadness. Even if everyone was staring at him after a few seconds, he didn't pay attention, he wouldn't have even noticed with his blurry sight, due to the number of tears that rolled down his face. After a whole minute of long cries, just as he felt his voice at its limit, he let out one last cry:  
"I'LL GET STRONGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!".  
As he felt a warm breeze on his body, it finally broke down, and Nick began waving his arms for her and for Torkoal, eventually stopping and making a strength gesture as the woman was barely visible before getting down and wiping off his tears, feeling his arms terribly sore. That's when he noticed how ridiculous he had been looking to the rest of Trainers and personnel. Not wanting to deal with any of that, he began walking to his cabin, looking away from anyone who tried to make visual contact with him. Once he was inside, he locked the door and opened the pocket with the Poké Balls, letting out a sob as he wished he could hug them in that moment.

"Goodbye, my boy..." the old woman sobbed lowly under her breath. "Love them as...".  
"Did you have to make that show just to let them go, then regret it?".  
"Shut up!" she shouted furiously to her husband. "This is all your fault! W-W-WHY were you so inclined about him starting as a Trainer, in the first place?!".  
"Pfft, it was what he should have done years ago. That's what teenagers usually do. Isn't it similar to the island challenge...?".  
"He didn't need to go around capturing Pokémon. It was totally unnecessary" she stated.  
"And couldn't they go...?".  
"Back in nature? You foreigners are such cowards" the woman bluntly said. "Once you've done something wrong, you gotta deal with the consequences. Nick shouldn't be a Trainer, but now he is, and everyone must face his love for these three Pokémon. I already suspected it when I saw him on TV, but I didn't imagine their bond would be that strong. To the point he would never doubt about risking his life for them. I wish I had that will power in its day...".

"Oh, you were a Trainer, too".  
"Yeah, it was not long before the stimulants' businesses kicked in. I guess you did it sometime after. Tell me, what happened to your Pokémon once your trip was over and they kicked your ass in the Kanto League?".  
"They went where those three things stuck with my son should be: in nature" Nick's father said, indifferent.  
"And haven't you ever thought how they could be, or whether they really wanted to leave?".  
"Jeez, you can't have those dangerous beasts forever... Nick must realize it...".  
The old woman slowly shook her head.  
"I would never forgive him if he got to abandon his friends" she said with a razor-sharp look to the man in a suit. "Not after degrading himself like that just for trying to protect them as much as they probably protect him. As THAT deceased Pokémon protected his Trainer. Even if he won't probably be capable of figuring it out, that's the greatest show of love you could do for your Pokémon".  
"Why would I marry such a stubborn native...?" the woman could hear her husband under his breath.

"And WHY would I let the father of my son allow him to travel on a journey JUST to make him make the same mistake I made?!" she shouted, livid.  
"Mistake?".  
"Yes! I still regret the day I released all my Pokémon after my journey. I was so fond of them, especially that Zoroark who had lost her child to some jerks who wanted to capture them and ended up killing them. I-I just got along with all of them. But when I was home, I was so pressured... I had to shoo them away, not show any feelings for them... That night, I couldn't stop crying and praying for them to be safe and happy. Everything reminded me of any of those wonderful creatures, I just couldn't focus at all on anything. Do you want to know why I started dating foreign men?! Well, I hated my family for making me do such a cruel action to them, and still do, to this day, to some degree. I hated hearing about successful Trainers, and how the failures were forced to do the same as I did. My father wanted to be closer to non-Alolan people, what about your own daughter being taken by someone from Kanto, then?".

The man was stunned. His marriage, his son... was the fruit of a girl's tantrum for her family making her release her Pokémon. It was definitely the most stupid thing he had ever heard.  
"So old, yet such a brat".  
"But the worse part of it came much later" the woman continued, with a much shakier tone. "Soon after they went away, a boy started presenting himself at my house with a bunch of flowers. Shy, silent, gorgeous. It wasn't all that often, but he seemed to appear just when I felt the saddest. He always consoled me with that deep look, kissed my hand in such a tender way when I was running errands, let me cry on his shoulder while sitting on a bench. And my family, since he looked so pale, was so thrilled about that boy visiting me, even though he looked in a hurry when he was invited by my family to stay in. With anyone else, they would have thought it was a weirdo. One day, a year after the boy first showed up, I heard they had taken down a Pokémon stealing flowers near a flower farm. The same one where the flowers I was given came from".

Even if his husband wasn't willing to see it, the old, silver long-haired woman transmitted a look filled with pain and sorrow, mainly because of the memories that were flowing to the surface of her mind.  
"I don't know how I could think about it for the first time just when I heard that. I sprinted to the farm as fast as I could, with my mother following the best she could, and there she was: the same Zoroark I had been training, with the same scar on her cheek, dying before everyone surrounding the street while they waited for the police to come. She had the exact same bunch of flowers that the boy would hand me, and when I approached her, totally appalled by the wounds they had caused to her...". Countless tears fell from that mother's face at that moment. "She made the exact same gesture of offering me the flowers with a tender smile as the boy did, and as soon as I carefully took them... she died before me and my mother. It was THAT painful to get a large part of my family to understand why I cared so much for my Pokémon, and I had to regret not having realized that boy was that Zoroark's illusion".

"So... you make up all this story to defend being against Nick becoming a Trainer, and then allow him to hit the news who knows how many times more?" the man in a suit asked.  
That had finally driven her wife up the wall.  
"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND, YOU IDIOT?!" she cried furiously. "You don't know how much their Pokémon would suffer if they had to be released! Or if you care so much about Nick, do you want him to end up like that boy from Unova? Pushed to choose between his Pokémon and his family?".  
"You mean, Paul?" he asked, perplexed. "That incident was a fabrication from Team Plasma".  
"It's impossible to understand the strange circumstances of those events, but I do know, had their parents tried to actually understand his Pokémon instead of fighting back and forth for their son, he would probably be alive and a lot happier than he was. Were you casually planning to do that, huh?" the woman challenged him.  
"And what if he ends up returning without his Pokémon, you cunt?" her husband asked, definitely having run out of patience.  
"If I do get to see him before I leave this world, and he's turned mad, into a monster... Totally impossible to recognize from what he is right now..." she walked until having the culprit of those possibilities' face just in front of her. "Even if theirs don't get saved, MAY YOUR SOUL BURN IN HELL FOREVER!".

Nick could barely sleep that night. Luckily, he didn't really need it. Upon further examination of the ticket and some brochures in his cabin, he found out it was going to take exactly a week before they arrived in Sinnoh. He didn't mind, though: that way, he could have time to overcome the loss of Torkoal, and get rid of his sadness before the next challenge approached. Even though being barely able to be with his Pokémon didn't really help. At best, he could revise the pictures he had taken in Alola with his camera, as he hadn't swapped the memory card yet. The memories brought tears to his eyes very easily as he revised all the photos, especially the ones with the ones who would wind up being his companions, but the ones of Pokémon he had also met along the way felt pretty special, too. Even though not as much as the ones after passing the different trials of each of the islands, especially the earliest ones, when Incineroar was a Torracat and Arcanine was a Growlithe, for example.

Not even seeing that Magby, who disowned him for not being _a good enough Trainer, _as he was told, and ended up being traded for who would become that protecting Volcarona, would make him stop crying, as he obviously wondered where he might be or how he might be doing. The same could be asked about every wild Pokémon he had seen along the way, especially the Fire-type ones, which he loved, and even though he couldn't do a whole lot for those to be well, he knew really well he could... he had to do something for his team: taking scratches, facing his fears more directly, training with them not as a leader, but as another fighter. Before falling asleep, Nick kept regretting he hadn't actually learned as much as he should have, but he was willing to correct his error and make his friends just as proud as they made him in the battlefield, even if it was just before a ton of punching bags, according to most people. At the very least, to honor the Pokémon who had lost his life to save him in such a quick turn of events.


	4. A Father Against His Son

"So, we can consider Ikaiki the king of bad ideas, right?".  
The red-haired and sharp-looking guy chuckled right as the rest of threatening-looking folks laughed except for one, with suntanned skin, badly gelled brown-ish hair, and an angry look made even worse by his cold, ugly blue eyes. Ikaiki, as he was called by the rest of the leaders, wasn't happy at all about what had happened in the latest weeks at all.  
"And the best part is when he sends his girlfriend on his own against that brat after failing to bury him alive. He's even sillier than the faggot and his faggot Pokémon".  
"Well, Failer, stop laughing like that before I punch you! You know Team Plasma is a HUGE problem in Alola, unlike Unova, where things were under control with the yellows' help by the time Zeke fell as a result of him creating his own war. Which you haven't resolved yet, and it is still considered the most dangerous one for anyone".  
"Eh, I don't see the point in fixing it" a guy with green and blue hair with an inexpressive face said, Hoenn's leader. "The yellows can be quite useful, you know?".

"Those _starving gangsters_ got out of control in Unova for nothing, and they'll cost us a lot more if Hoenn falls under their terrorism, too" Ikaiki protested.  
"If you're worried so much about Kanto, just keep in mind Team Plasma won't achieve a lot either there or in Johto. Silver doesn't have to worry about having yellows deployed to his territory".  
"Until either he or you chooses an improper Trainer to be _punished_ and things end up in a similar fashion to that stupid Nick, Cocker" the guy with that bad gelling work on his hair stared at Kanto's leader, a bright yellow-haired ugly boy, just like Unova's. "It will eventually happen, you can't be watching everyone's profile to see which one will be laughed at the most. Besides, it's so difficult to be in charge of a punishment region which such a different path and so unhappy natives".  
"Well, you gotta prove yourself if you ever wanna take my place" one of the chick-haired guys said. "If you can keep Team Plasma and your subordinates quiet, I might forgive you about you fucking my Lucario bitch".

"You're not the only...!".  
"SILEEEEEEEEENCE!".  
The seven _leaders_ stopped their arguing and yelling as they put in their military positions. Their boss, a fat man in a suit, was livid by that point. The fact that he was smoking a cigarette was a clear sign of someone being severely scolded that day, something business owners such as that one were experts at doing. Or probably just addicted to it. In any case, it was clear he had been losing a lot of money by that point after the incident in Alola's League.  
"You ARE such a stupid leader, Ikai... Whatever! I don't care right now about how well you choose drugs, you're awful at choosing opponents for the League".  
"How could I know...?!" Ikaiki tried to defend himself.  
"SILENCE! How could you expect that choosing a native for the humiliation combat wouldn't angry their people?! And better yet, how were you stupid enough to choose someone who treats their Pokémon that badly as his opponent? Don't you recall what happened to Rengar with that Scizor?!".

"Well, that's controlled, boss" the blue-eyed guy said, crossing his arms. "They all believe it was that Nick who turned the Pokémon against his Trainer".  
"In your head, you retard!" the businessman yelled at him. "No one in Alola believes that garbage, not to mention that Team Plasma's spreading Verlix's videos like wildfire. If it wasn't for the yellows and the trolls watching Johto and Kanto's social media, we'd lose MUCH MORE money silencing their speech!".  
"Aren't our _brainwashing efforts_ enough? I'm gonna be mad if I lost some battles and won't recover the money he borrowed for nothing, you know?".  
"The Ruskis are ALWAYS there, you idiot, supporting our lower, rebel tier for them to put obstacles in our way. Maybe Team Plasma isn't really controlled by them, but they're using it to try to make our system collapse along with the yellows. Some Gym Leaders such as Volkner are closing their gyms whenever some contenders are talked about too much, and let's not mention the nurses. Those whores are taking over all the medical system like fucking cancer!".

"And why don't you call out those Russians?" Hoenn's leader said in his relaxed, inexpressive manner. "That way, you keep _rebels_ busy so I don't have to sentence breeders to their political death. You don't know how much trouble those assaults have become. They are best avoided".  
"Don't be stupid, you fucking hippie. That's America's government's matter. We must not touch the Ruskis directly until they tell us we can do so. For the moment, our Trojan horse in our enemies' side is the only way we have".  
"You'll see what will happen once our true enemy outplays the yellows" Ikaiki protested. "Even if you keep the machinery against them, they'll eventually manage to start their purge against our suppliers, and that's when we'll have to bring out the heavy equipment if we wanna have a chance against them. Do you wanna see our regions' image break into pieces? Well, we gotta bring that Alolan to our side and choke Team Plasma before they get too powerful in Alola".  
"Oh, finally, the exiled one has some common sense" the businessman commented with sarcasm. "How useful, you flipping idiot".

"And what about we use our criminal groups to scare Team Plasma away?" another light brown guy suggested while making an arrogant expression. "I guess they're useful for keeping the lesser breeder's businesses alive as long as they don't get too hyped up".  
"Kriptoin, you know Team Skull is a joke by now" the fat man in a suit was losing his patience. "They can only feed newcomers in Alola and appear in ads as a form of humiliation. After fighting a stimulated Pokémon on his own, that brat would fear them even less".  
"I mean, the other regions" he crossed his arms with an angry face. "We don't really mind those getting in trouble for them to attack humans, right?".  
"Once we did that against one rebel girl from Johto, and that amped up the yellows' temper so much. We could have lost control over them! Plus, the healthcare folks are, in the most part, affiliated to Team Plasma, so word quickly spread around their circles that they had made an attempt against her, so folks in all Sinnoh protected her. And you took so long to calm them down".

"What can you do about a bunch of brats worried about _protecting Pokémon instead of Trainers_?" Kriptoin protested.  
"Weren't you the one with the most influence among certain groups in Sinnoh? Well, you could use that in order to silence them and push the yellows' ideas. Oh, and that video, too" the man smirked.  
"Oh, so it was him, huh?" the uglier brown-ish guy copied his boss' smirk. "I've seen the machinery in Kanto going crazy while spreading it like wildfire for the past 2 days".  
"Indeed, the guy making those silly howling noises was in fact Nick, and we've discovered he's going down the humiliation path in order to reach Sinnoh. Not only is the ferry very recognizable, but we also have a reliable source who confirmed his destination".  
"Wow, I wonder how much you had to pay in order to find that out" Kriptoin commented.  
"Nothing beyond our plans: his father's in our side; he's been working for us in Alola for almost 20 years. And a loyal guy respecting his ideologies: he's actually mad about Nick not having released his Pokémon yet".

"I guess I could do him a favor and get that kid back where he should be. As long as I get a promotion, that is".  
"Calm down your pussy" the man did a sign with his hand, telling him to stop. "As we already know Nick's going to Sinnoh, it is naturally your JOB to get him by our side. Ika, blah, blah" the suntanned guy frowned while the businessman kept talking, "won't be able to hold Team Plasma's efforts for more than a year or so, much less if that brat _completes_ his _journey_, so we need Alolan representation in our lines as soon as possible. Understood?".  
"Yes! I swear those Pokémon will be history once my boys trap him for me".  
"I don't fucking care about what happens to those fire things, just get his mindset aligned with our plans, got it?!" the older man pointed out as his eyes got bloodshot in fury.  
"Y-yes..." that made Kriptoin lose his confidence completely, knowing what people like him could do when furious.

As the cigarette got totally consumed, a phone began ringing. It was none of the leaders', but their boss', who picked it up immediately as the seven of them sighed before starting to talk in a pretty low tone. Just like when their girlfriends would gossip hard.  
"Have you guys seen the meme?".  
"That's like asking whether the sun will rise in the morning, Ikaiki" Silver replied as he put one of the instances that were available on his phone.  
Even if the volume was set low in order not to annoy the businessman talking to whoever on the other end, the heart-breaking cries everyone had been laughing at for a few days were clearly audible. Had they any humanity left in their souls, they'd feel deeply troubled upon hearing them. But of course, everything had to be dehumanized, starting by relationships themselves (that's how you triumph in the bed even if you have no idea about giving pleasure, anyway). After just a few seconds, some of them were imitating him in an incredibly stupid fashion while the rest kept laughing.

In the meantime, the businessman frowned while answering the call.  
"What's the matter now? I gotta deal with the brats".  
He kept listening to the other end just barely in order to understand why they were complaining.  
"Do you think you're the one who thinks those are unbearable? Of course you'll get assistance once you present your report".  
He sighed as he looked at the group laughing and howling like Wailords.  
"He isn't a part of any of your businesses for now. Not until we have him ready".  
Another pause while the leaders' boss kept hearing the other man.  
"If he comes back before we've dealt with him, we'll consider that operation a failure. You know what to do in that case".  
The next pause was considerably shorter because he interrupted the other end before they could finish.  
"If you're not capable of pushing your feelings aside, you'll be always just a pawn, you idiot. Consider yourself lucky for having earned such a position in such a casual way".

The conversation was approaching to an end, and while the other man kept talking, the one present in that room shouted:  
"KRIPTOIN!".  
Then he turned up the volume of his device in order to understand what that weepy man was saying.  
"This is just as releasing your Pokémon once your journey is over. Only if he does understand, you won't have to do it. Get it into your head, though, we can't guarantee your son will be a part of our guys while he's in Sinnoh... I'll keep you informed about any encounters with Nick, and I promise he'll get to obey you eventually".  
As soon as he hung up, the businessman turned to the brown-ish guy and asked:  
"I hope you're using the time we have wisely. Are your guys getting ready for his arrival!".  
"Yeah" Kriptoin nodded with a frown. "They are arriving in Canalave City, where the ship is expected to dock. The whole _patrol_ should be ready to welcome him and attempt to catch him in the spot".  
"Remember, we don't need any of his Pokémon alive in order to succeed, but he must survive to the encounter, understood?!".

"Yes. What about...?".  
"Team Plasma?" the businessman arched a brow. "Leave them alone as long as they don't interfere. However, if it happens, we're making a piggyback so that you can act freely against them without that having too much repercussion. Don't get too excited, though, the Ruskis' machinery mustn't be underestimated at all".  
"Well, that and Team Galactic. They could be useful for our purposes".  
"I don't know whether they'll make a dent in Nick's mindset" he shrugged. "Still, use them if you want. But keep in mind we won't pay for any casualties they might suffer".  
"Wasn't expecting that, anyway" the brown-ish guy replied. "They're my personal kamikazes, after all. I'm the one financing them".  
"That's how a leader thinks" the man smirked. "If only you used your influences a bit more...".  
"I can't abuse them too hard, otherwise I will never find a girl who pleases me enough".  
"There are just so many begging for sucking you. Are you being too careful about not picking one interested in economical matters?".  
"That and the fact that I can't get any of them to scream my name".

"At least you probably don't moan as that Nick does" the man smirked. "If I were him, I'd feel embarrassed for moaning even louder than girls when taking them".  
"Another reason he's just another weirdo" Kriptoin commented. "Luckily, Pokémon couldn't say a word about that, so you can relax in that regard when fucking one of those whores".  
"Just don't go bragging about all that. The yellows would roar if any of you guys were caught fucking your personal secret bitches".  
"Not like a female Pokémon is all that convenient just to blow off some steam. You know, they're expensive to feed, and if they don't have any other use... Nah, might as well just throw mine out once I go steady with a worthy girl".  
"Maybe you could give her away to one of your followers".  
"Not a good idea, now that I think about it. I just forgot Team Plasma is very skilled when it comes to find discarded Pokémon and give some of my boys a good headache. At least the ones in Sinnoh".

That's when the same phone began ringing again, making that brown-ish guy sigh as he began walking away back to the group. They seemed to be arguing once again, so maybe talking about female Pokémon would defuse tensions to some degree. The businessman didn't lose any time in answering the call, especially after checking who was calling.  
"What now, Stupidov?".  
He completely ignored the one on the other end complaining while making a ridiculously bad Russian accent.  
"I'm gonna keep calling you that, because I know what your intentions are as you control them".  
More protests from the other guy on the phone.  
"Just keep the Ruskis busy and the yellows stuck to our plans, and I'll buy your way into the pros. I swear".  
The other man felt pretty brave regarding his response to that _I swear_, but he wouldn't screw around for much longer.  
"Well, I want you to stop trying to make war in Kanto and Johto for the moment. In fact, we need the yellows to set their focus in Sinnoh".

The businessman stared at the rich brats laughing once again while frowning, hearing the complaints of the guy directing the yellows.  
"I don't care about their plans in Hoenn. Cancel them and focus all their efforts in Sinnoh. We might lose Alola's control if Nick gets _stronger_ and gets the natives to organize against us".  
The other man was stunned at hearing that name.  
"Yes, he's settled to Sinnoh and he's going down the humiliation path from Alola. That gives us time to prepare for his arrival. We might need you to get rid of his Pokémon if he gets way too powerful".  
The guy at the other end got worried about what that businessman could be planning for that Alolan boy. After all, the Yellow Revolution had no small amount of legal issues.  
"Of course we can't kill him. Are you stupid? That would anger Alolans even more. I doubt you will be able to make him think his Pokémon are a threat to himself. You know what he did at Alola League. But we need him by our side. By any means. Shatter his sanity, but we can't allow our empire to look weak because of a bunch of stubborn guys".

He didn't even hear what the other guy had to say before hanging up and shouting:  
"EVERYONE!".  
That caused the general brouhaha to stop as the seven guys stopped their casual talking. Then the fat man started his last discourse:  
"Before you fuck off for today, everyone must be aware of the Yellow Revolution focusing in Sinnoh while Nick is there. Kriptoin, you have them at your disposal, so try to use them wisely. That includes coordinating him with your subordinates. As for the rest, you're on your own for dealing with Team Plasma, except for the Alolan. We need to keep the natives under control while we deal with Nick".  
"Lucky you, Ikaiki" Silver said angrily. "Just don't send them to my house, or I'll make you pay for my whole campaign, got it?".  
"Hey, don't you think this whole issue that moaning brat caused won't cost me an arm and a leg, you know? You're even luckier of needing very little yellow influence to silence Team Plasma in Johto".

"I don't care about any loans you have to arrange!" the businessman shouted, having run out of patience. "Everyone got what I said?".  
"Yeaaah..." the seven guys replied with a pretty unexcited tone.  
"Then get the fuck out of my sight, dammit!".  
They eventually began walking away from that dark room at quite a fast pace, partially because of that scream scaring them away, but it was also because they were sick of that old businessman. He didn't care, though, as he had more issues that demanded his attention. Particularly the great project that had been going on for the last two years, at risk of being truncated because of Team Plasma gaining a lot of influence in Alola. That was one reason they had to hurry. Should they lose control of the situation over there, the new region would only partially dim the damage to their empire's image, as long as everything was ready and a capable leader was directing it. He sighed while waiting for the ringing tone to go away, and then he said:  
"How is everything going in Galar? Are the British giving you trouble?".


End file.
